When we ask people who have moved from Chicago what they miss about the city, we often get a two-word reply: the food. And when folks come back to visit, they’re quick to visit their favorite haunts, whether it’s a pizza joint or a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Chicago is famous for its food. Its restaurants represent myriad cultures, from Ecuadorian to Indian. Not many cities can compete with Chicago when it comes to restaurant fare.
But a disturbing trend threatens our lively food scene. Burglaries of restaurants are hitting record numbers, as reported by the Sun-Times recently. Reporters Ambar Colón, Mohammad Samra and Tom Schuba found that 635 burglaries were reported at restaurants last year, the most since at least 2001. Worse yet, Chicago is on track to surpass that number this year.
Generally, thieves are looking for cash and liquor, the reporters noted. Apparently, there is a prolific black market for booze.
What can be done? For starters, alderpersons should consider tapping funds from their aldermanic menu programs to install concrete barriers where feasible in front of restaurants and stores susceptible to smash-and-grabs — when criminals ram vehicles through glass windows to steal. It's a worthy investment. These places are, after all, economic lifelines for neighborhoods.
"Restaurant owner-operators would love that," Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia told us.
Toia pointed out that some restaurants, notably in the West Loop, are hiring private security guards. But mom-and-pop places cannot afford pricey security and, as Toia points out, it will take combined public and private measures to improve safety across the city. Toia credits state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, with directing funds for more security cameras in Lake View.
In each neighborhood, restaurant owners, landlords, local police districts and City Council members must come together to come up with safety plans. The Near North police district now has a detail focused on this problem. We need more of that across the city.
You know the problem is severe when restaurant owners express little or no surprise that their place has been burglarized — they saw it coming. That was the case for Paul Fehribach, who operates Big Jones on North Clark Street in Andersonville. Fehribach told the Sun-Times that a week earlier, other neighborhood places had been victims of break-ins.
Understandably, Fehribach was frustrated and angry. "I’m just beyond outraged at the aldermen and the city’s government, which is doing nothing but making it more difficult for me to operate my business," he said.
Another restaurant owner told WGN-Ch. 9 he is urging state lawmakers to amend the SAFE-T Act so repeat burglary offenders could be detained.
First, though, there need to be more arrests. In 2023, an arrest was made in just 34 of the burglaries targeting restaurants — 5.3% of the cases. So far in 2024, there have been arrests in just 11 cases — a measly 3.5%.
Toia said he’s encouraged by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s long-term strategies to reduce crime — support for programs such as After School Matters, more summer jobs for teens and specific plans for the Englewood, Little Village, Austin and West Garfield Park neighborhoods, which have long struggled with violent crime.
But City Hall needs to grasp that robberies and burglaries are very much a here-and-now problem. Folks are tired of it and scared. There have been cases of restaurant customers being robbed at gunpoint, sometimes as thieves clean out cash registers.
When it comes to restaurants, owners and operators already are being squeezed economically by inflation and city mandates: the elimination of a tipped wage and the most generous paid leave policy of any big city in the U.S. Before the pandemic, the restaurant industry operated on profit margins of nickels and dimes, Toia said, adding, "Now it’s an industry of pennies and nickels."
In an ideal world, all restaurants would follow security tips from the Illinois Restaurant Association, including installing more nifty alarm systems; setting up security cameras by cash registers, booze cabinets and outside businesses; building rooftop barriers to prevent access to roofs; securing rooftop hatches, air ducts and vents; and paying for rigid window gates.
But many restaurants are dependent on landlords for most of those things, or their bottom lines don't allow for all the upgrades. They would need more than pennies and nickels. They certainly need more help from the city.
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